News / Fine for knife in car
A TEENAGER who admitted having a knife in his car when police searched his vehicle for drugs has been fined, even though the knife did not belong to him.
A trial at Lerwick Sheriff Court heard the 17 year old was stopped on Lerwick’s Ladies Drive while driving with friends on 27 September.
The police searched the car after receiving a tip off about marijuana, but instead found a knife in the driver’s door compartment.
The accused denied knowing how the knife came to be there, saying that he had only found it in the car while cleaning it earlier in the day.
He said he intended to dispose of the knife when he arrived home later that day as he did not want to be seen putting it in a public bin.
A 16 year old witness then gave evidence that he owned the knife, but could not remember why he took it into the car.
However Sheriff Philip Mann said the main issue was that the 17 year old was the one that had the knife in his car.
Fining him £200, he told the young man, who was visibly upset: “You’re young enough to put this behind you.
“People will understand that when you’re young you do silly things, so don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.”
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